Emails will be mailed out from 4pm - 97 per cent will have got one of their top choices

School children across the county will learn today which primary school they will be starting in this September.

In Kent, 16,855 children will receive a school of their preference with 15,429 being offered their first preference school, nearly a two per cent improvement on 2016’s first preference figures.

Only 2.56 per cent of applicants were unable to be offered a school of their preference, a reduction of 162 from 2016 to 444.

Of those 444 who were not offered one of their preferred schools, nearly half failed to make use of all available preferences, limiting Kent’s ability to offer them a preferred school.

Patrick Leeson KCC’s corporate director of children, young people and education, said: “Kent continues to offer parents a wide selection of exceptional schools, with 91 per cent of primary schools rated as good or outstanding according to inspectors from Ofsted. This allows parents to confidently name schools in their area, which has led to these record breaking figures.

“The combination of close working with schools and careful planning means Kent is able to sustain a high proportion of children starting at one of their preferred schools.

“Unfortunately, each year a small minority of pupils are not offered a school of their choice. We do encourage families to use all the preferences available to them so that they have a better chance of securing a preferred school. The county council will offer each of these children an alternative school. Many will go on to secure places of their preference through waiting lists and reallocation, and I would like to reassure parents that a specialist Kent County Council team is on hand to help them make the most of the options available to them.”

Medway confirmed this morning more than 97 per cent of children in its area will get one of their preferred schools - up more than one per cent on last year.

The latest school admissions figures reveal that just over 89 per cent of children have secured a place at their first preference school - up two per cent - just over six per cent at their second preference, and just under 1.5 per cent at their third.

The school admissions process for Medway involves the council processing applications for 3,375 Medway resident pupils and 130 out of area pupils.

Families across the county will shortly start receiving news of the primary school their child has been offered for September 2017, with offer emails for online applicants being sent after 4pm today (Monday) and offer letters for paper applicants being posted first class.

Applications for primary school places opened in September last year and parents had until January 16 to submit their applications to the council, naming up to six schools.

Andrew Mackness, portfolio holder for children’s services at Medway Council, said: “It is wonderful to see so many children in Medway offered a place at one of their preferred schools, and such a high number at their first preference school. This is a really exciting time for families and I’d like to wish all children starting their education this September the very best of luck.”

Medway Council’s portfolio holder for educational attainment and improvement Martin Potter said: “I am pleased that a vast majority of children have been offered a place at one of their top preference schools. I’d like to encourage the youngsters receiving their offer today to enjoy their time at school, have fun and work hard to reach their full potential.

“Through the work of our school organisation plan we have successfully identified the need for school places and those places have been provided through a programme of school expansion. We will continue to meet the challenges presented by our growing population by providing additional school places, and in particular the larger number of secondary applications we forecast we’ll receive as larger primary cohorts progress through academic years. This will continue to be achieved through our school organisation plan.”